Thanks Tank #15

I'm feeling extremely thankful and blessed this evening which really is a switch from my mood earlier today. Earlier I felt stressed out and a bit angry and was very, very snippy. I'm so thankful that in my ugly humanness Jesus Christ still loves me unconditionally. That in and of itself should completely fill and overflow my "tank" with thankfulness. But because God is SO GOOD - He adds frosting (or whip cream - whatever you prefer)! Here are some of the things that Jesus "frosted" my day and week with!

1. I'm thankful that I was able to get into town today and get everything I needed to get done on my list done and get home in plenty of time before the girls got home from school.
2. I'm thankful for a chance to show the girls' teachers a bit of appreciation for all that they meant to my girls over this past year. I'm thankful for the patience that they have to be able to teach 2nd graders and 3rd graders because I know that I could never do that.
3. I'm thankful for the warmth of the sun today. It's been way to long since we've felt its awesome rays! Definitely a huge mood booster!
4. I'm thankful that my husband enjoys landscaping and yard work as much as he does. I'm thankful that he doesn't require any help or assistance from me because frankly this is something that I do not enjoy. I'm very thankful for how wonderful our yard is beginning to look.
5. I'm thankful for the opportunity we have to have people over and relax and spend time getting caught-up!
6. I'm thankful that the puppy we are puppy-sitting has let us sleep through the night w/o waking us!
   
7. I'm thankful for the bunco group I'm in and what wonderful friendships I've made over the past 9 years! It's hard to believe that is how long I've been a part of The Bunco Babes!
8. I'm thankful for the chance to hold and love on a little baby this evening. Children are miraculous gifts from the Lord!
9. I'm thankful for my two precious gifts. This evening I've been able to comfort them and hold them and give them some attention that they don't normally get from me at this time of night. Normally if they get up I want them to go right back to sleep because all I can think about is how hard it will be for me to wake them up in the morning. It was really nice to hold my youngest in my lap for awhile and let her tell me about her evening with Daddy. It was great climbing into bed next to my oldest and listening to her tell me the exact same story 30 minutes later. On to their story . . . .
   
10. I'm thankful that Keith and I have not passed along some of our "big" fears to our girls. Or so it would seem . . . . . . .
    

This is the snake that our neighbor brought over for the girls to "play with". Anah reached in her hand and pulled the little sucker out and then proceeded to let the bugger slither all over her arms and hands. And when Daddy said I need to get a picture for your mom she put the thing RIGHT UP TO HER FACE!!!!!! Who needs boys when you've got girls like these!!!

My verse for the week is this: II Timothy 1:7, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline".

My husband is a cursor!

It's true, my husband is an electronics curser (as in someone who curses all things electronic). Back when we started our blogs, which is almost a year ago, one of his first posts was about cursing the electronics "gods". It had something to do with his computer at work and a couple of other electronic devices of his. The morning that he wrote it our laptop computer crashed and we are still working on getting that fixed! Needless to say, he deleted that post! So anyway, he has been having some major cell phone issues. Yesterday he decided he had had enough and he was going into our cell phone providers store and going to talk with someone about what they could do for him. Of course he ended up talking with someone who wasn't very friendly, polite or accommodating. He left without really getting anything resolved. I, on the other hand, have not had any issues with my cell phone. Actually, I'm on my third and have never had a complaint about my cell phone itself. So Keith leaves the store and goes to give me a call on my cell. I answer my phone but can't hear him. I'm assuming I must have accidentally hung up on him. So I try calling him back but I can't hear anything - no talking, no ringing, nothing. I start to get a little irritated. Keith texts me and says he can't stand his phone because he could hear me but I couldn't hear him. So we go back and forth he comes and picks the girls and I up and we start to realize the problem doesn't lie with his phone but mine. What could have possibly happened to make my phone not work? We assume that when the store people looked up our account that they messed something up and now I can't hear through my ear piece. Long story short we get home and I call Sprint to talk with them and apparently the ear piece in my phone went out!!!! How lovely is that? So now if I need to take a call or call someone I have to use the speaker!!! You know, everything was fine until Keith started complaining about his phone - I blame my husband!!!!!

This just in . . . . National Doughnut Day!!!

doughnuts are something that I just can't resist and if what i just read is true - i believe they might be giving away free donuts at krispy kreme today!?!?!

you'll have to let me know if it's true or not!

Thursday Thanks Tank #15

Well, I'm not quite sure what is going on but the headache I had last week has never truly went away and today it is back with a vengeance! So I'm not sure that this weeks thanks tank is going to be any better thought out than last weeks. I feel so incredibly blessed and am thankful for so many things. Here are a few of them:

1. I'm thankful that Sammy was able to pull out her own tooth last night because neither Keith or I are really into that whole loose tooth thing!
2. I'm thankful for medicine that is easily and readily available in this country, whether it's for "big" things (epi-pens & antibiotics) or "small" things (like headaches and colds).
3. I'm thankful for our barbecue and the chance to "grill out" as our Southern friends call it!
4. I'm thankful for the year I spent at Ecola Bible School and the friendships that I made there. It was really a huge turning point in my life and I'm incredibly thankful for that!
5. I'm thankful for friends who are willing to be honest and vulnerable with me.
6. I'm thankful for iced caramel macchiatoes, whoever created this drink was a genius!!!
7. I'm thankful for the opportunity to sit down with my family every night this week and have dinner together and talk with each other and laugh with each other!
8. I'm thankful for the things about each person that make us all unique and that even though we don't always agree on things we can accept and love each other for who we are.
   

scrumptious!

so this is totally for Neen and that dude, from Australia or New Zealand or wherever he is from, that has a blog where he posts pictures of all the food he has eaten for the day . . . .


my steak, rice and broccoli before getting salted, buttered and mayo'd and then after! yummo!

Now it's all beginning to make sense!

So this weekend I had two revelations that helped me realize why I am a certain way about a certain thing. My brother-in-law likes to tease me (mercilessly) about it and I take the "heat" thinking - I know your right but I can't help it. Now I know that my inclinations are deeply ingrained AND now I know why. I always had a sneaking suspicion but this weekend it was confirmed!
Anyone who has ever had a meal at my house more than once has probably caught on to the fact that when I make food or plan a meal for a group of people I always make sure that we will have more than enough. And when I say more than enough - I mean, MORE THAN ENOUGH! It probably helps that I don't mind eating leftovers (sorry, JA!). But I truly have this fear of having too many people and not enough food. Since I tend to be a people person that enjoys having lots of people around that just leads to the need for lots and lots of food.
Anyway, this Saturday my sister came over for dinner with her son and I was planning on making spaghetti. Now my dad had been around for most of the day working on our back porch. I wasn't expecting him to stay for dinner and also wasn't expecting Brook to be here for dinner. As I was boiling the noodles, I thought to myself, I always make way too many noodles and then they sit in our frig. And even though we will eat on them. I usually end up throwing some of them away. I've been trying to work on my over-cooking so I just cooked a box and a half of noodles. Shortly after I've done this we realize that Brook will be eating dinner with us and I ask my Dad to stay and eat also. Now I'm in panic mode. I don't have enough noodles! My sister, the pragmatic and unflappable one, says lets make some garlic bread and then I decide to throw on some green beans as well. As we start dishing up, I find myself giving everyone small portions because I'm afraid we won't have enough noodles. I tell Keith - I'm an idiot and didn't make enough noodles. He very lovingly tells me - you're not an idiot and there will be enough. But I've really just worked myself into a panic over this. Mind you the only extra people we have is my dad, sister and nephew. Imagine if these people weren't my family! As it turned out we did have enough food with a tad bit leftover (which Keith ate last night for dinner) but the stress of it all was not worth it.
Fast forward to the next day (yesterday afternoon to be exact). We are now all at my parents and are putting dinner together (for anyone who knows my family - on Sundays dinner is the meal eaten after you get home from church). My contribution to "dinner" is my sister-in-laws apple salad recipe that includes granny smith apples, cool whip, pineapple tidbits, snickers candy bars and peanuts. It's a wonderful, yummy salad but it doesn't really keep very well. So once again on the theme of creating less waste I've brought just enough for the 5 adults and 3 kids who will be eating. All of a sudden there is a knock on the door and then people come piling into the double-wide. I ask my mom what's going on? She informs me that dad has invited a couple of people to have "dinner" with us. AW HA! And now it is becoming so clear. My dad is a pastor, my mom a pastors wife. I grew up in this household. My mom is a smart, smart woman. She knows my dad well. He likes to bring home "strays" on a moments notice without informing the "woman-folk". Solution? Always have an overabundance of food to entertain with so that you are never stuck in the kitchen having a panic attack wondering - how am I going to feed all these people?
So now I know why I am the way I am about this particular issue. My other issues will have to wait for another day and another epiphany before we can even start to understand them!!!

Thanks Tank #14

I would be so much more thankful if this headache I've been fostering all day would go away. But it doesn't seem to want to go anywhere and I really want to post my thanks tank so I'm going to attempt it. Right now I just keep thinking - give thanks in ALL things!

• i'm thankful for the wonderful dinner we just got done eating - my hubbie b-b-q'd steak, we had baked potatoes, steamed asparagus and sauteed mushrooms and garlic. it was wonderful sitting around the table together as a family and having meaningful and precious conversations with the girls
• i'm thankful for my girls who ate their snack, did their homework, did their reading and then played quietly for two hours after they got home from school while i slept trying to take the edge off this headache
• i'm thankful for an awesome, relaxing and rejuvenating weekend away with friends.
  
• i'm thankful for the chance to hang out with my sister and mother (in-love) scrapbooking till 1 in the morning last night (hmm, i wonder where this headache came from?)
• i'm thankful for my husband
  

I have so much more to be thankful for and I know yesterday as I was composing my thanks tank in my mind I had so much more "listed". But this headache is getting the best of me. Please take time to be thankful for something and I thank you for taking time to read what has made me thankful this week. Blessings to you!

Gotta love these girls!!!

I'm going to post something that Anah wrote today for her school homework.  It made my heart melt when I heard her read it.  I'm also going to post a belated Mother's Day gift from Sammy.  It was this laminated "list" with a picture of her on it.  I love the things she wrote; probably because I feel like it shows her maturity and the fact that she is seeing "things" without being told.  

Anah's Story

I like going to my grandparents on Sundays.  It is fun.  We usually have hotdogs or hamburgers or steak and sometimes we take tons and tons of pictures.  It is fun cause we have family time and if my family didn't have Sundays we would never have family time and then I wouldn't see my aunt or uncle or grandparents or baby cousins and that is not fun.  So I thank God so much for making Sundays cause without Sundays I wouldn't get to see my family.  So sometimes at night I even thank God for Sundays and I hope my family thanks God too.

Sammy's Mother's Day 2008 List

Mom                                                            Who'd like to see

Nice                                                                  Hawaii

Funny                                                              Mexico

Willing to help people who need it

Who loves                                                    Who gives

Her family                                                      Care for her children

God                                                                  Care for her dogs

Jesus

Who needs                                                   Teacher of

A hammock                                                    Samantha McCoy

A boy baby                                                    Savanah McCoy

A housekeeper

Who fears                                                    Student of

Snakes                                                            Her Mom

Spiders                                                          Her Grandma

Bulldogs

Both of these just touched my heart.  I love them both and I love THESE GIRLS!!!

Thanks Tank #13

All I've been able to think about today is the tragic death of Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest daughter who was adopted from China. So today my thanks tank is filled with my daughters. I'm so thankful for them. I'm thankful for their health and safety. I'm also thankful that in our sadness and despair Jesus is always there. I have posted the lyrics to the song Praise You in this Storm by Casting Crowns.

I Was Sure By Now

That You Would Have Reached Down

And Wiped Our Tears Away

Stepped In And Saved The Day

But Once Again, I Say "amen",

And It's Still Raining

As The Thunder Rolls

I Barely Hear Your Whisper Through The Rain

"i'm With You"

And As Your Mercy Falls

I Raise My Hands And Praise

The God Who GivesAnd Takes Away

I'll Praise You In This Storm

And I Will Lift My Hands

For You Are Who You Are

No Matter Where I Am

Every Tear I've Cried

You Hold In Your Hand

You Never Left My Side

And Though My Heart Is Torn

I Will Praise You In This Storm

I Remember When

I Stumbled In The Wind

You Heard My Cry

You Raised Me Up Again

My Strength Is Almost Gone

How Can I Carry On

If I Can't Find You

As The Thunder Rolls

I Barely Hear You Whisper Through The Rain

"i'm With You"

And As Your Mercy Falls

I Raise My Hands

And Praise The God Who Gives

And Takes Away

I Lift My Eyes Unto The Hills

Where Does My Help Come From?

My Help Comes From The Lord

The Maker Of Heaven And Earth

A coffee quiz for the birthday bean burner!

You Are a Frappacino

At your best, you are: fun loving, sweet, and modern At your worst, you are: childish and over indulgent You drink coffee when: you're craving something sweet Your caffeine addiction level: low

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Protest comes in many forms

They are screaming out at me protesting from deep within. NO, NO, NO!!!!! Don't do it! Anything but that! Don't hide us away in this tight, dark space!

What is protesting and why - you may ask?

The answer - my toes!!! You see they've tasted freedom and now cannot bear to be shoved back into socks and shoes!!! The weather mocks them but what can I do?

Our dessert for the evening is . . . .

You Are Tiramisu

Light and lovely, you pack a punch. You never overwhelm... but you always leave a lasting impression.

What Dessert Are You Most Like?

Color me - Egg!

What Your Easter Egg Says About You

You are cheerful, friendly, and open minded. You do your best to make sure everyone is happy, including yourself. Empathy comes easily to you. You are very forgiving. You don't hold grudges. You easily forget about any negativity in your life.

The Easter Egg Personality Test

One more for good measure!

Your Personality Is

Idealist (NF) You are a passionate, caring, and unique person. You are good at expressing yourself and sharing your ideals. You are the most compassionate of all types and connect with others easily. Your heart tends to rule you. You can't make decisions without considering feelings. You seek out other empathetic people to befriend. Truth and authenticity matters in your friendships. In love, you give everything you have to relationships. You fall in love easily. At work, you crave personal expression and meaning in your career. With others, you communicate well. You can spend all night talking with someone. As far as your looks go, you've likely taken the time to develop your own personal style. On weekends, you like to be with others. Charity work is also a favorite pastime of yours.

The Three Question Personality Test

A Final Test 4 the Day - The Flip Flop Test

What Your Flip Flops Say About You

You live to have fun, and your sense of humor is downright goofy. You are a big kid on the inside, and you have a very open heart. You try to make every day feel like a vacation, even if you have other responsibilities. Each day, you make a little bit of time to play and let loose. Your ideal warm weather place: Disney World

The Flip Flop Test

This is the Life

I'm sitting out on my back porch. It's 9:30 pm and I'm reflecting back on my day a bit, enjoying the coolness of the evening, while I listen to my family through the open dining room window. They are now watching Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade. They've had a marathon day of Indiana Jones movies. This is the first time my girls have watched them and I'm sure it's going to come back to bite us on the rump tonight. I've already informed my husband that I am not getting up with any crying kids tonight because they are scared of the movies Daddy let them watch. But they sure are having lots of fun. The shrieks and screams keep bringing a smile to my lips.
Our day started out not as I expected. WARM!!!! I mean I expected it to get warm today but after having left windows open all night and fans going I didn't expect it to be warm still in our house. I was wrong! I had been planning on helping my Dad with our back porch today but found out yesterday that he wouldn't be able to make it until afternoon. So this morning found me cleaning house a bit and playing around on the computer. Hence all the posts for today - I'm sure it's a record.
Dad didn't end up getting here until later but we were able to get all the fascia up. This required me going up on the roof. I'm not exactly fond of heights but I try not to let that fear get the best of me. Of course, we live in a mobile home - how high up are we really? We also got a couple sheets of our roof "sheeting" up. Doesn't really sound like that much got done but my body sure does feel as though it was worked well.
Well, back to my quiet time on my porch with a final post for the day. It is an amazing feeling as I sit here. To quote Hannah Montana - THIS IS THE LIFE, SO HOLD ON TIGHT. THIS IS THE DREAM. IT'S ALL I NEED . . . . . I'M STILL GETTING IT RIGHT - YEAH THIS IS THE LIFE!

Music and Moods

What Your Taste in Music Says About You

Your musical tastes are upbeat and conventional. You are an easy going, optimistic person. Family and friends are very important to you. You enjoy caring for and helping other people. You thrive in a tranquil environment, and you do your best to keep things peaceful. You enjoy your life. You have your priorities straight.

What Does Your Taste in Music Say About You?

Things that make you go - hmmm?!?

You Are An ESFP

The Performer You are a natural performer and happiest when you're entertaining others. A great friend, you are generous, fun-loving and optimistic. You love to laugh - and you like almost all people equally. You accept life as it is, and you do your best to make each day fantastic. In love, you are a smooth talker and incorrigible flirt. While you get into relationships easily, you don't tend to stick around when times get tough. At work, you do well in groups. You keep everyone laughing through difficult tasks. You would make a good actor, designer, or counselor. How you see yourself: Capable, fair, and efficient When other people don't get you, they see you as: Incompetent, stubborn, and silly

What's Your Personality Type?

Kiss me quick!

Your Famous Movie Kiss is from Spiderman

"I have always been standing in your doorway. Isn't it about time somebody saved your life?"

What Famous Movie Kiss Are You?

Just call me Kimberlily

You Are A Lily

You are a nurturer and all around natural therapist. People see you as their rock. And they are able to depend on you. You are a soothing influence. You can make people feel better with a few words. Your caring has more of an impact than even you realize.

What Flower Are You?

Pass the milk, please!

You Are Corn Flakes

You are traditional and easy going. If something is high quality, you're satisfied with it. You don't need much variety or novelty in your life. You're happy with what you have. You're quite loyal. You're the type of person who eats the same breakfast every day... And likely at the exact same time each day!

What Kind of Cereal Are You?

Cookies, I love Cookies!!!!! I'm the Cookie Monster!

You Are a Smiley Face Cookie

You're happy go lucky. So happy, in fact, it's a little past the point of normal sanity. You usually make those around you smile ... when you're not creeping them out!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

Sadly, all good things must come to an end!

Well, I'm home from my night out with the girls. What fun we had. Dinner was pretty good for some scary place on McKinley Ave. Janeen & Rene' made us (me) stick to our guns about not getting too much Chinese food like our first night in New York. They were right. Our meal for 2 fed all 4 of us with much leftovers.
We then went and saw What Happens in Vegas which has got to be one of the most hilarious movies ever! It was GREAT! Of course this is coming from me, the person whose favorite movies are Fools Rush In, 13 Going on 30, 50 First Dates, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Music & Lyrics, Sweet Home Alabama, Just Like Heaven, etc. Do we see a pattern here? Yep - You bet!!! It doesn't bother me one bit when a movie is typical and follows the same sort of pattern. Girl and Boy meet, one of the two does something stupid that jeopardizes the relationship, in the end the boy gets the girl or the girl gets her man. **On a side note. I love these movies and would probably choose my all time favorite from them but I also really, really like action adventure type movies like The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Ultimatum, the X-men Trilogy, The Italian Job, Live Free or Die Hard, Transformers, etc. (What am I missing?)** Anyway, I thought the movie tonight was just so incredibly funny! I can't believe how much I laughed. Even the previews before this movie were really funny! A new movie is coming out, with one of the guys from The Office, that has Teddy Geiger in it. He is an amazing singer/songwriter who I first saw on the show Love Monkey with Tom Cavanaugh. And there is a new movie coming out with Colin Hanks - for anyone that didn't know - he's Tom Hanks son! I also picked up 3 new lines, which excites me immensely! So from an extremely untrained and biased movie critic, I'd encourage everyone to go see this movie!
We also were able to go out for our dessert of Black Rice Pudding (or as the restaurant calls it - Sticky Ricke Pudding?) with Coconut Ice Cream. DELICIOUS!!!! I walked away wanting more, more, more and wondering why is it always so long in between servings?
So thank you Rene' for a WONDERFUL Mother's Day gift! What fun it was!!!!!

It's gonna be a hot one in the ol' town - today!

So the weatherman says we are going to break record highs today! It's supposed to be up into the 90's and possibly even 100's. It's only May 16th! It's crazy weather that we are having this spring. Didn't we just have snow a couple weeks ago?
Anyway, you can really tell that it's gonna be a warm one. After dropping off the girls at school, I decided to drive up to the "other" coffee stand that I occasionally visit (it's close by and they have a drive thru!). It's 8:45 in the morning and there are 10 cars waiting in the line for the car wash next door! How crazy is that. Also there is about 6 cars in line at the coffee stand! Not very normal - almost a bit eerie! Us girls are going out tonight for another round of celebrating Mother's Day. It will be really nice to sit in a nice air conditioned movie theater. But I'm a little nervous about what we might find has we head into town. This weather has a tendency to make people a little crazy!
Enjoy the warm weather and we'll see you back here once it cools down!

Thanks Tank #12

Today is a beautiful day made just for being thankful. Of course, isn't everyday? Here's a list of things that are filling up my tank with thanks! And boy am I thankful that filling up this "tank" is free!!!!!

1. french pedicured toes!
2. planned visits with friends and family (we have at least 5 planned over the next 6 weeks)
3. warm sunshiny days
4. having at least one of my dogs here with us
5. my husbands new (to him) computer
6. being able to sleep through the snoring coming from the other side of the bed
7. new clothes
8. great mother's day gifts (how materialistic is that?!?)
9. friendships that are dear to my heart
10. my girls and how grown-up & responsible they are becoming
11. tulips from Mason's mommy at MOPs
12. christian teachers in public school
13. children's programs at church
14. scrapbooking & the joy it brings

My verse for this week is Psalms 35:18,"I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among throngs of people I will praise you."

Take time today to think of all the things you are thankful for. Blessings to you!

*****SUPER SPECIAL SUNDAY EDITION*****

Thanks, Mom!

As I mentioned in my Thursday Thanks Tank, I wanted to do a special thanks tank just for the Mom's in my life. I will start with my Mom and go from there.

I am thankful for my Mom because:

• she taught me to be a bargain shopper
• she taught me that having too much food at any function is better than not having enough
• she is so giving of her time to help her children and others
• she makes the best cookies in the world
• she loved me and put up with me through my rebellious years
• she made our home - growing up - the cool place to hang out, so all my friends loved coming to my house
• she is a breast cancer survivor
• she was always accepting of my friends (both boys and girls)
• she bought me my wedding dress
• she encouraged me to be a kind and compassionate person
• she has put up with having us live with her on more than one occasion for very long extended periods of time
• she loves my daughters and husband unconditionally
• she taught me that if you get your laundry out of the dryer right away you won't have wrinkled clothes
• she taught me that even if your room is messy, it will look 100% better if you make your bed
• she has done hundreds of loads of laundry for me over the years and never complained
• she was always home for me and my sisters when we got home from school
• she is beautiful
• i can go to her with any problem I have and she will help me
• she is THE BEST MOM & GRANDMA IN THE WORLD!

I love my Mom for all of these reasons and so many more. She is truly one of the most giving people I know.

I am thankful for my Mom-in-love because:

• she raised the man I love the most in this world to be a magnificent father and husband
• she has accepted me as her daughter unconditionally and entirely
• she is one of the most patient and non-judgemental people I know
• she loves her children and her children-in-loves whole heartedly
• she is an amazing Nana to all of her granddaughters
• she has a passion and thirst for God's word that is a wonderful example to follow
• she cares deeply for people and their walk with the Lord
• she is so incredibly talented and artsy
• she is an encourager for both her family and others

I am also so thankful for my Grandmothers who have meant so much to me. I'm thankful for my sisters who I get to share this journey of motherhood with. I'm thankful for my friends who are mothers that I can learn from and swap parenting tips with and who understand what I'm going through. I'm also thankful for my friends who might not have children of their own at this time who have listened to my stories and even helped parent my girls at times. So for ALL of the women in my life - THANK YOU and Happy Mother's Day!

Thanks Tank #11

I'm so excited that my computer let me upload this photo! So that will be my first thankful "thought" for this post. I've been contemplating what would go on to my Thursday Thanks Tank list since yesterday afternoon. (You've got a lot of time to think when you are building a deck.) Since its Mother's Day on Sunday I started thinking I would do a special thanks tank just for the Mom's in my life. As I was pondering this though there were so many other things that I was feeling thankful for that I ended up deciding I would do a normal Thursday Thanks Tank but keep a watch out for a "Special Edition Mom's Tank" coming on Sunday!

My verse for this week is Proverbs 31:28, "Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her"

I am thankful for:

1. new towels - fluffy, soft and green
2. being able to walk out my laundry room door onto a finished deck
3. Pastor George's sermons
4. babysitters that you trust and that your kids love
5. the money to pay for said babysitters
6. going thru hard times - to help you appreciate all you are blessed with
7. warm days filled with sunshine
8. the smell outside after a rain shower
9. packages in the mail
10. planned outings with my sisters and mom
11. quiet evenings at home with my husband and girls
12. Mario Kart for the Wii
13. the end of MOPs
14. a clean home
15. a home of my own
16. being a bunco babe
17. my nieces and nephews and the joy they bring

Pick a door - any door!

That's right folks we now have access into our home through all three of our doors!!!!! How exciting is that? Very, very exciting! Of course we are still climbing up "fake" steps to get onto our deck but that's okay. Now it's on to upward and overhead!

My Monday Minute

Once again I stole this from my friends post. But she said [I] could.

YOU CAN ONLY TYPE ONE WORD! Not as easy as you might think. Now copy or forward, change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers. Be sure to send back to the person you received it from.

1. Where is your cell phone? pocket
2. Your significant other? awesome
3. Your hair? straight
4. Your mother? giving
5. Your father? hard-working
6. Your favorite thing? fun
7. Your dream last night? weird
8. Your favorite drink? coffee
9. Your dream/goal? fit
10. The room you're in? spare
11. Your hobby? scrapbooking
12. Your fear? death
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
14. Where were you last night? home
15. What you're not? organized
16. Muffins? bagels
17. One of your wish list items? pedicure
18. Where you grew up? everywhere
19. The last thing you did? crossword
20. What are you wearing? sweats
21. Your TV? evenings
22. Your pets? labs
23. Your computer? broken
24. Your life? improving
25. Your mood? sleepy
26. Missing someone? yep
27. Your car? disaster
28. Something you're not wearing? shoes
29. Favorite store? Costco
30. Your summer? anticipating
31. Like someone? love
32. Your favorite color? brown
33. When is the last time you laughed? recently
34. Last time you cried? awhile
35. Who will resend this? nobody

Just the facts ma'am, just the facts (as I see them anyway!)

• i prefer the bottom of a bagel but the top of a muffin.


• my favorite drink is a caramel macchiato. i HATE vanilla. vanilla syrup is the first ingredient that goes into a caramel macchiato.


• i love chocolate but can't stand white chocolate.


• i have a chocolate fetish and yet as long as it's in my house, i don't have to eat it - i.e. i still have the chocolate bar I was given when my friends son was born. he just turned 3! and yet if all the chocolate in my house was gone I would literally have a panic attack and have to rush to the store for chocolate!


• i'm coming to realize that shoes aren't as important to me as they once were. i'd rather wear my slippers everywhere!!!


• i can't stand listening to the radio.


• i despise having to "get ready" in the morning. make-up is only my friend because it makes me look somewhat decent not because i enjoy applying it!


• i go through crazy funky spurts - sometimes i enjoy reading so much that every time i get a chance i read, and then all of a sudden it seems to take all my energy to even pick up a book. i "rotate" the genre of music i am into sometimes every couple of months and sometimes longer. i'm not sure what the genre is that i'm into at the moment. but i will go thru oldies to country to christian to 80's to soft rock to 80's hard rock to ???? right now I have Billy Ray Cyrus in my CD clock radio alarm, The Friends of Distinction (Grazin' in the Grass is a gas, baby can you dig it!) in my car and Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, NKOTB, Colbie Calliat & The Jonas Brothers in my CD player in the living room. sometimes all i want to do is play games and then other times i just want to watch movies.


• i am watching Desperate Housewives on DVD and keith and i are watching The Unit (on DVD) together.


• i have to have candy while scrapbooking - my favorites: M&M's & Robin Eggs.


• i used to hate being alone and now I enjoy it SO much.


• i used to love talking on the phone and now i dread it.


• i used to think i didn't like doing laundry just because i didn't like it. now i've realized that doing laundry isn't the problem it's putting all those folded clothes away that i hate. when you don't have a place for something it gets old quick.


• i thought once we were back into our own place that i would have a place for everything - how wrong was i!


• i've realized that i don't enjoy cooking. i used to think that was because i didn't like having to clean up but now i know its just that i don't enjoy cooking.


• as much as i don't like to cook - i LOVE to eat.


• i actually enjoy working out - i'm just too lazy to set aside time to do it.


• the most comments i've ever gotten on a post was 23 - that post was I am a Rock. i got 22 comments on my post on Alzheimer's. but my average amount of comments i would assume is actually about 3. i don't really know for sure i haven't counted. maybe sometime when i'm bored and i've found my calculator i'll actually get a real number for that fact. ????

I'm going to post this now but when and if I have some more time I might add to this list!

• i can't stand the taste of Starbucks brewed coffee (at Starbucks or any one's home) but they are my favorite for espresso.
• my ultimate "topping" for pizza, pasta or salad is artichoke hearts. i LOVE them. they are beyond delicious. lately I would rather have artichoke hearts than chocolate!
• i immensely enjoy running a screw gun!
• i like being able to do things that people think only guys should do.
• i think everyone should learn how to drive a stick shift.
• i plan on making my kids learn how to drive on a stick shift.
• my favorite sport is volleyball. i would love to have an outdoor sand volleyball court in our back "40". actually not the back "40" but closer to the garage and pump house.
• i love having people over to my house but i'm a basket case before they show up because i'm never prepared and i'm always frantically cleaning until the moment they get here.
• my favorite book in the Bible is James
• i don't like taking naps because i feel tired and "out of it" for the rest of the day after i've taken one but if i really needed to take a nap the best kind only lasts about 20 minutes!
• i admit to being a comment slut!
• i LOVE to make people laugh.
• even though who i am as a person revolves around humor and sarcasm i would rather watch an action/adventure movie than a comedy.
• i get headaches frequently and i'm very tired of it. it blows my mind when someone tells me they never get headaches. i can't imagine a life without headaches but oh how i wish i could. i have one right now!
• i always wished my parents had had more kids. i've always wanted a brother. seth won't let me claim him as my brother but i treat him that way anyway. its fun annoying the heck out of him like i assume a little sister would.
• though i find it a bit hokey and weird, the minute i saw keith for the first time i said out loud to myself, "that's the man i'm going to marry". i have no explanation for this - it's just the truth. odd, huh?
• i really, really, really love my husband and enjoy spending time with him. i love that he gets me and that he lets me be myself and that he lets me believe that he thinks i'm as funny as i think i am!

Thanks Tank #10

Thursday Thanks Tank

Alright, so I started off this day with great intentions of being thankful, thankful, thankful. And for the most part of the day I was just that. And then "this evening" hit. And now I'm beyond tired and not feeling very thankful for anything. So I'm going to list all the things that I am thankful for in this moment. Right here, right now! I must warn, you that know me well, will tend to think that I am being sarcastic about some of these things but I'm not. The things I am thankful for in this moment are:

• leftovers - it was great not having to cook dinner tonight. at least dinner twice, I took my friend and her family dinner which leads me to my next thankful thought.
• new babies - my roommate from Ecola, who lives up here in Washington now, had her third baby yesterday. he is gorgeous and adorable.
• dental floss
• emotional control - i made it back to MOPs, after quite a lengthy absence, today. it was crazy the number of new babies there were and how many moms are pregnant. i'm thankful that i was able to stay calm and sane and emotionally detached from it all.
• peace and quiet - while trying to dish up everyone's dinner and get the girls homework finished up and give my husband some attention it became glaringly apparent that I needed a time out. i'm thankful that I was able to walk into the spare bedroom with my cold leftovers and shut the rest of the world out and try and concentrate on thankful thoughts.
• flannel pajama bottoms - need I explain this?
• great hair days - again, I don't think any explanation is needed!
• humor & sarcasm - I'd die without both!
• a phone call from an old friend - my friend isn't old, I've just known her a long time. 15 1/2 years to be exact. I've actually probably done more with this friend in terms of traveling and hanging out then any other friend (minus sisters and mom) I have. i hadn't spoken with her in over two years when she called me out of the blue this past weekend. it was wonderful to hear her voice and chat with her. i'm thankful for the possibility of that renewed friendship.
• patience and servitude - this weekend my husband fell and badly sprained his ankle. it really has been an eye opener to me regarding all that he had to do for me when I did the same thing a couple of years ago right before Christmas. this ended up leading to surgery for me to repair torn tendons and I'm so thankful for all of the people who helped when I initially injured myself and then when I had my surgery.
• summer vacation - after the evening I had I'm not sure why this appeals to me SO MUCH, but i'm so excited that the girls last day of school is June 13th! that thrills me to pieces. i suppose it could be just because i can sleep in but i'm very much looking forward to june 14th - no phone calls till after 10:00am please!
• starbucks - after jonesing for a coffee - ALL DAY - i'm really thankful to be drinking my favorite - an iced venti x-tra caramel, x-tra ice, caramel macchiato!
• TV on DVD - i can watch it when i want for as long or as short as I want and can pause - yeah!
• planned family time - we've made plans to work more on our NYC/DC pictures this weekend. i'm really looking forward to that!
• my kisa - who is patiently waiting for me to get over my temper tantrum and who already put our girls to bed and will forgive me when I apologize - I've been blessed beyond measure!

My verses for this week are I Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Be joyful always; pray continuously; give thanks in ALL circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Thanks Tank #9

As always, I have many things to be thankful for and like I said last week I'm trying to slowly jump out of my "predictable box". Let's see what has touched my heart this week and please take time today to think on things that have made your heart thankful as well. I would love for you to share them with me! My thankful verse for this week is II Corinthians 2:14, But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

1. Technology and all that it affords - I've said it before and I'm sure that I'll say it again but I am so thankful for the opportunity to keep in contact with people through "blogland". The other day as I was visiting a couple different blogs I started clicking on the NEXT BLOG link that is in the bar that runs across the top of your blog at blogspot.com. I couldn't even tell you how many blogs I went through before finding one that was actually written in English. As I scanned the blog I was amazed to realize that this blog was from a newly married couple who were serving as missionaries in Haiti. Over and over again they talked about their desire to show the people they were working with the love of the Lord and what a difference He can make in their lives. It seemed to fit perfectly with my 'thankful verse' for this week. I've also added a cluster map to my blog page and it amazes me the different states and countries and continents that have access to my blog.
2. Moving boxes - This is a bit of a stretch for me but I'm really trying to be thankful for the moving boxes that are crammed into every nook and cranny in my house and blocking walkways to and from rooms. It's definitely been an eye opener that we have so much more than we need and, even at times, than we want.
3. Independent children - We have had some sickness this week at the house and it is very nice to have children that are old enough to leave unattended while I take a nap or spend a couple of hours outside helping to build our back deck. (Not that I'm opposed to having dependent children - just saying I'm thankful in this moment for kiddo's who can fend for themselves for awhile.)
4. Birthdays - and the chance they give to celebrate those special people in our lives!
5. Photographs - I love taking pictures and then spending hour upon hour looking back over them. This past weekend my sisters and mom and I spent time going thru our NYC/DC pictures and deciding which ones we wanted printed to put into books (since printing 2000 pics isn't very cost effective). I've also started getting some of my older photos from before digital out of the diaper boxes they've been inhabiting and into photo-safe boxes. The fact that they are in diaper boxes will give you a clue as to how old these pictures are. It's so much fun looking back. I've even decided that at some point I'm going to post pictures of us with each of our blogging "buddies". Since I've known some of you for quite some time - these pictures could definitely lead to some serious laughter!

Back up, I think she's gonna blow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .AGAIN!!!!

And again and again and again!


Poor thing was kept up Monday night by her puking sister but gets herself up and ready for school the next morning without complaining or incident (and without much help from Mom who was up much of the night). She rides the bus to and from school all by herself, which she really doesn't like to do w/o her sister. She brings home her sisters school work. She does two pages of homework and reads for 45 minutes. She was able to watch some Scooby Doo with her sister and have Top Ramen for dinner - a favorite of the girls. It's off to bed for the both of them. Before I head to bed Sammy has already been up using the restroom 3-4 times. I should've known that didn't bode well. Sure enough, I'd only been asleep for about 20 minutes the first time Sammy came into the bedroom saying her stomach hurt really bad. Once again we try out the Pepto. It only takes another 30 minutes till we see that again. And once again, Anah is the go-between coming to get me each time Sammy is throwing up. We didn't fair as well last night as the night before. Sammy was puking about every 20-30 minutes until 3:30 or so. If she was up after that, I don't know. No one came and got me. I got out of bed about 7:30 this morning thinking, I don't hear the girls up at all. Anah should be getting ready for school by now. I walk into their bedroom and she is sound asleep with her alarm blaring right by her head. It's been going off for 30 MINUTES! She is so tired this morning and very grumpy about the fact that Sammy kept her up all night and now is sleeping in while she has to go to school. Where is the fairness in that? I totally agree with her.

Round 2

More pictures from Times Square of Janeen, my mom and myself.

Thanksgiving Day in Central Park!

Posing in Central Park!

Riding the Double-Decker tour buses was a lot of fun. The view is so incredibly different. But it was so freezing cold up there that finally I couldn't take it any longer and ended up down below where I proceeded to take a little nap!

Sweetened through the ages just like wine!

I just happen to have my sister's computer which just happens to have half of our pictures from our trip this past fall to New York City and Washington DC. I've always meant to post more stories and pictures but with my own computer being down and the craziness of the holidays and our remodel project just never got around to it. So this past weekend us girls got together to go through our pictures because in this day and age of digital photography most of our pictures are in one of two places - our cameras/SD cards or our computers. As we spent time going over all of our pictures and reliving some of our adventures, I think it was pretty unanimous that we would go back in a heartbeat! And what took us so long to go in the first place? So enjoy the few photos and be thankful that I can only post a limited amount of pictures per post. We had, between the four of us girls, over 2,000 pictures.

Mom and I on our first full day in New York. We spent much of this rainy day seeing the island from the water. We took a 3 hour cruise with Circle Line. Their sense of humor was strongly lacking. No one even cracked a smile when us girls got on the boat singing about a 3 hour tour (a 3 hour tour).



My baby sister, Rene', with her favorite Today show host, Ann Curry. (We were actually on TV!)






Rene', myself and my mom taking pictures in Times Square!









Yeah, that's me with Bon Jovi!!!
Well the wax model of Bon Jovi, anyway!
We had a blast going through Madame Tussauds!

I should've known!

Really, I should have known! I'm not sure why the puke covering the hallway floor and throw rug was my first clue. The signs had been there all day long!
Monday morning started out like most other Mondays - mAd!!!! Samantha decided to turn the shower on and let the water warm up before she got in. But she didn't get in for almost 10 minutes. Both the girls come running into my bedroom, where I am still blissfully sleeping away. They're 7 3/4 and 9 - they can pretty much manage in the morning w/o my supervision. And a rested Momma is a happy Momma! Anyway, the tub is almost 2/3's full of water but they hadn't plugged it so they were all panicky about what was going on. I'm trying to wake up and figure out what they are talking about. I rush to the bathroom to make sure we aren't about to flood the bathroom floor. This is when I realize both the girls still have their pj's on. Why is this I ask? The shower is running - someone should have been in here. Sam says - I was letting it warm up. By the time Anah gets in the shower - ice cold water!!!! And mAd MoNdAY has started! Samantha then dumps her bowl of cereal all over herself, the table, the chair and the floor. I don't do well with these kind of things. I try to keep my patience and bite my tongue and don't say anything while I clean up the mess and she changes clothes. She is extremely apologetic and keeps crying about the situation. I'm trying to show "mercy" but really I just want to yell. I tell her - it was an accident lets move on.
I enjoy the time, while my girls are in school, at my parents house going through New York and DC pictures with my Mom. We have a really nice day! I leave to pick up the girls and head to a Dr's appt for Sam. Right away something is a little fishy with her. Her attitude appears fine but her breath is so stinky and smelly that I can smell her from some distance away. I check her teeth, they look fine. Has she been brushing twice a day? YES! Okay, have a piece of gum. WOW! I can still really smell that breath. Maybe we should talk to the doctor about this. That would be good Mom. While we are waiting for Dr. Husarik to come in and take a look at the wart on her foot she starts complaining of a stomachache. Do you need to go to the bathroom? No, my stomach just hurts. Okay. She did incredibly well while having her wart froze off. No tears, no flinching. Dr. Husarik was thoroughly impressed and kept telling her what a great job she was doing. He even thought there was a possibility that even though it was so big that he might have got it all with one "dose" because she let him "burn" it for so long! I'm very proud of how well she has done so instead of suckers from the dr's office we head to Wendy's for a frosty! Yum! From there I need to pick up a few things at Walmart. BIG MISTAKE!!!!!
I swear the minute we walked through those doors a monster entered my child. The whining, complaining, arguing with me and her sister, the moodiness, the tears, tears and more tears were almost more than I could handle. It didn't help when Savanah started playing with her Frosty that was only half way finished and ended up dumping the cup and all onto the floor! CLEAN UP ON AISLE 9 - CLEAN UP ON AISLE 9!!! At this point, I have literally forgotten everything I needed to purchase at Walmart but I knew I had at least a dozen items on my list. All that is in the cart is a gallon of milk and two bags of frozen tater tots, which weren't on the list. I'm trying to collect my thoughts and sanity, I might add. What was on that stupid list? As we walk thru the aisles trying to spark some recollection of what I needed, Sam trails behind me crying and fighting with her sister. What is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this? I can't believe the way you are behaving! What is going on? At this point, I am almost in tears myself. Isn't shopping with the kids supposed to get easier the older they get? How could have I been so misguided on this issue? That's it - it's homework, dinner and bed for you the minute we get home. Lots, lots more tears!
We stop and pick up KFC/Taco Bell on the way home. By the time, homework and dinner is over it's almost 8:00pm. Bedtime! That's great, I'm so glad we got you in bed early! ARGH!!!!!
All is well, finally. My hubbie and I are watching TV together enjoying the silence of upset children. We head to bed - him long before me. At 3:00am I hear a little voice say, Mommy my tummy hurts really, really bad. I'm so sorry I woke you up. It's okay baby. Let's find the pepto. Do you need a puke bucket? Yes. Have you went to the bathroom? Just got done, but my tummy stills really hurts. 20 minutes later she's tucked back in bed with a towel covering her pillow, a bowl next to her head in case she has to barf and instructions that if she can, she should try and make it to the toilet to throw-up!
And this is how I come to find myself staring at the vomit covering the hallway floor and throw rug in between the girls bedroom door and the bathroom door at 4am this morning. Why aren't you using your bowl, Sam? I thought I could make it to the bathroom. Let's get you cleaned up.
My precious baby is still sleeping on the floor of my bedroom in her Daddy's old sleeping bag. I can't even count how many times she apologized to her Daddy and I for waking us up. What a sweetheart!

I should have seen that throw-up coming from about 21 hours away!!!!!

Thursday Thanks #8

Thursday Thanks Tank

Once again, here are just a few of the things that I am thankful for this week. Sometimes I feel like the list is just a repeat over and over again of the same things. So I am going to try thinking outside of the box starting with this post. Now I won't jump out of the box completely today but maybe eventually you might find me there.

1. Typing - I am so thankful for the typing classes I took in high school and for my ability to type. I think that if I was a "pecker" at the keyboards I would give up on this whole blogging thing and emailing thing, which would mean I'd miss out on keeping in contact with so many people. So a big huge thanks goes out to my two typing teachers - Mr. Santi and Mr. Pagett, for making me the mad typer that I am today!

2. Soccer - I am thankful for both the BEGINNING and the ENDING of soccer season. Since this was the first time either of the girls have played any sort of sport it has been a complete learning process for us. I think that the girls have enjoyed it for the most part; Sammy probably more than Anah. I also think that more soccer is definitely in our future. But as we are gearing down on our last week of soccer, I can't help but feeling big relief that at least for a little while we won't have any practices or games to be rushing off to 2 - 3 times a week.

3. Opinions - So often as I am talking with my girls about inconsequential things, I find myself ignoring or not even paying attention to some of their opinions. I guess I've gotten this "I'm the Mom" complex going on and so I've really started trying to pay better attention to what they are saying and what they are trying to tell me. I'm thankful that God has made each one of us uniquely and given us different thoughts and opinions. I'm also thankful for the people in my life, especially when I was young, who took the time to listen to MY opinions and didn't crush all my little girl dreams. I'm also thankful that my girls have been forgiving when I haven't responded the way I should and that I'm getting a second chance to support them and their dreams while they are still little.

4. Understanding - I'm thankful for the understanding of friends. One of my closest friends, who was my maid of honor, called me this week to see if we would be available for company this next week. Since we really would love to see their family I told her sure, knowing that it really wasn't the most opportune of times. She called me back a couple days later and said that she just really got the feeling that it wasn't what was best for us at the time and we could post-pone. I'm so thankful that she was open to postponing and that I could be honest with her without hurting her feelings. Her response was very encouraging and loving, she said we've been friends for a long time and went through many things together. We should be able to tell each other if something isn't going to work out and know the other person won't hold that against us. It was wonderful having a number of conversations with her this week and getting caught up on each other's lives.

5. Lazy days - I'm thankful for a number of the lazy days that I myself have enjoyed since moving into our home plus the couple of lazy days that we've spent together as a family. Now laziness is definitely a big problem of mine and I've really tried to keep up on my household "chores" since that is my "job". I'm thankful that my husband is so understanding on those days when he comes home and it's obvious that I've not done much. He is definitely a K.I.S.A!

6. Tax Day - I'm thankful that tax day has come and gone. I'm thankful for some very great advice from "the brother i never had" that let me go ahead and get my taxes done without having to purchase a second Turbo Tax when I couldn't find the first one I had bought. I'm thankful for my parents letting me come out on the 15th and borrow their computer when mine didn't want to co-operate with me. I'm thankful that we don't owe any money. I'm thankful that at least for the next ten months I don't have to worry about "TAX DAY"!

7. Back porch dreams - I'm thankful that I can see progress on our back porch and that the dream of a back porch is very soon going to become a reality!

8. Sanity - Sanity is highly overrated but I'm still doing all that I can to maintain at least some of mine! =) Luckily, in this absolutely crazy week of ours, I can confidently say that mine is still intact. I think?!?

My verse of thankfulness for this week is Colossians 2:6&7: So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Blessings to you all!

Getting to know ME, getting to know all about ME!

Stole this off of Jane Anne's blog! I love doing these trivia question/email thingys. After awhile though, all the friends I usually send them to quit replying. I've yet to meet someone who loves trivia as much as I do. Now I've definitely met people who are better at trivia but who love it to the extent that I do? Nope. The only one that comes close is my sister. And sometimes I think she just humors me!
So enjoy learning a little about me and please leave comments sharing about yourself, or better yet, steal this and put it on your own blog (with your own answers of course)!


Have You Ever:
-Gone on a blind date: Nope.
-Skipped school: Oh yes! More times than I could count but the most memorable was when my parents caught me and I was grounded for a LONG, LONG TIME!
-Watched someone die: Yes
-Been to Canada: Yes, I went with my girlfriends from Ecola the first time and then went back with a couple friends from Ecola, Ryan Peterson, Dave Baughman, my sister and Keith to watch the Clumsy Lovers, while there our car was broken into. We've not went back since!!!
-Been to Mexico: Yes, twice. We walked over the border on a family vacation right after I graduated from high school. Then our family took a vacation to Puerto Vallarta in September 2003.
-Been to Florida: No. But my sister is doing her darnedest to get us to go to Walt Disney World instead of Disneyland for vacation this year!
-Been on a plane: Yes and I hate it!!! But interestingly enough, the best flight I've ever been on was the one back East just this past November!
-Been lost: Yep! Gotta say I love having Mrs. Carlson in the Rang, Rang!
-Been on the opposite side of the country From where you live: Yes, just this past Thanksgiving I went to New York and Washington DC with my mom and sisters. It was SO MUCH FUN! Before that the farthest I'd ever been East was Colorado.
-Been to the capital of your country: Yes. See above comment.
-Swam in the ocean or waded: Yes. But only the Pacific Ocean. I actually almost drowned when I was younger while swimming off the Southern Callie coast. The lifeguard couldn't get to me so my dad and uncle ended up rescuing me!
-Cried yourself to sleep: Oh my yes! I've cried over boys, friends, pets, lost babies and lost loved ones. I'm a crier!
-Played cops and robbers: I'm not sure. ???? I have no boys and I had no brothers growing up. I can't specifically remember playing cops and robbers. That's a great question!
-Recently colored with crayons: How recently is recent?
-Sang Karaoke: Yes, yes, yes! Love it, love it, love it! (JA - absolutely boring? No! Absolutely missing out? Definitely!!!)
-Paid for a meal with coins only? I'm sure I did back in the days when you could literally scrape your change together for enough gas to get you into town and then get yourself a taco or two at Taco Bell for $.59 a piece!
-Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? Unfortunately!
-Made prank phone calls: I know who you are and I saw what you did!
-Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose: I spewed milk out my nose all over Shawn Wood, the boy of my dreams, my 6th grade year. Since then I'm sure it's happened on numerous occasions. I may be a crier but I'm also a laugher!
-Caught a snowflake on your tongue: Yes. Whenever I get the chance to see it snow the mouth automatically opens and out comes the tongue. What better way to enjoy the snowfall?!?!
-Danced in the rain: Yes
-Written a letter to Santa Claus: No. I was a deprived kid who never believed in Santa Claus and I became a Mom who deprives her kids as well. So I haven't even helped a child write a letter to Old St. Nick!
-Been kissed under the mistletoe: No and that makes me very, very sad!
-Watched the sunrise with someone you care about: Yes on more than one occasion but the best was on my honeymoon wrapped up in a blanket with my hubby!
-Blown bubbles: Yes.
-Gone ice-skating: Yes and I was able to take my girls for the first time over Spring Break. They LOVED it!
-Been skinny dipping outdoors: Amazingly, wild child that I am, I've never skinny dipped outdoors.
-Been out of North America: Is Mexico North America or Central America?
-Been in detention: Oh yes!
-Regretted something you blogged: Not that I can recall.

Taxes and WASL

Today is not a good day in the McCoy household (as my husband would say - it is a mAd MoNdAY!) I am trying to recover from a yucky flu bug that is lingering longer than I like and yet because of the total and complete procrastinator that I am find myself doing my taxes on the day before they are due! Today is also the first day of a week of WASL testing for Sammy! I can't believe that she is now in the age group of WASLers!!! She has been preparing for this for weeks now. Last night as I was tucking her in and praying with her she went over her list of things that she needed to do to be prepared for testing in the morning:

1. Get plenty of good sleep the night before testing. This meant Anah sleeping in another room so that Sam would be able to fall right to sleep w/o someone talking with her.
2. Make sure that the clothes you are wearing the day of testing are comfortable. Not too tight, not too loose. They don't want you thinking about stuff that could be bothering you. Apparently at age 9 this could include your clothing. I never realized!
3. Eat a healthy/nutritious breakfast. They don't want you coming into school hungry and then only being able to concentrate on that. As I was about to tell her she should eat a bowl of Raisin Bran for breakfast I thought twice. They probably don't want them having to rush to the bathroom with the runs either. So we will forgo the Raisin Bran for Ohs! Hopefully they won't make her need to use the restroom!
4. Be on time! Okay so we all know that isn't my strong suit! We set the alarm for 6:45 am. That will give you plenty of time to take a shower, get ready and make it to the bus stop so that there is NO WAY you can be late for school!
5. Relax! - Relax. Relax? Are you kidding, I'm wound tighter than ...? Well, whatever is wound really, really tight! I'm ready for a good stiff drink and then a couple extra hours of sleep!

So besides for the aforementioned goings-on, this week starts off our last week of soccer. And soccer season is going out with a bang at our house. We had a game this past Saturday (which much to my delight afforded me my first bit of "color"). Sam has a game tonight, Anah has practice tomorrow, Anah has a game Wednesday night, Sam has a game Thursday night, Sam has her soccer "banquet" Friday night and Anah has her last game Saturday. Plus we have overnight guests from Friday to Saturday! This week is going to be a BLAST!!!

So check back in towards the end of the week to see if I've managed to maintain a hold of at least SOME of my sanity!

mAd MoNdAY here I come . . . . . . . .

Memories, stretched between the pages of my mind

Or is that stuck between the pages or stretched between the corners? Stuck into the corners? Argh!!!!! See? It's already happening!!!

So the other day a friend and I were talking about memories. Not actual memories but the ability to remember. Now please note that the things I am about to say I do not mean in a bragging sort of way at all, it's just the way things happen to be - at the moment.

For some reason I have the uncanny ability to remember many, many things. I'm great with numbers. I can tell you so many peoples telephone #'s home and cell. I remember peoples birthdays. Sometimes to an annoying degree. I mean really - Ruby Cline. I haven't seen her since I was a sophomore in high school. Do I really need to remember that her birthday is May 19th? NO!!!!! But it's there floating around in my head like some bizzaro factoid that NO ONE cares to know! Another thing I remember rather well is people's names - their full names!!! I can remember the full name of every single guy I dated!!! Which is pretty impressive since my husband can't seem to remember the names of even half the girls he's dated!!! If I was around when any of my friends had kids - I can remember their full names! And my husband would tell you that I seem to remember exactly what was said by whom during an argument and then I bring it back up later when he no longer remembers anything about said argument. So all of this to say, because I remember things so well right now, I'm terrified that I will start losing my memory as I get older. And not just the little things but big important things. So far my family has been blessed to not have Alzheimer's in the family tree. And I truly realize that Alzheimer's is a serious disease and not something to joke about. In all honesty, this is really something I fear getting as I get older. But because I am who I am I will joke about it and poke fun at myself.

So my question is this, how will I know if I am in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's?

Last night I was up rather late making sure my husband had clean undershorts for today. As I was walking towards the laundry room through the kitchen I saw my half drunk latte' sitting there from earlier. Like 6 hours earlier. Very much still in the realm of drinkable. So I pour it into a mug that is microwavable and go to stick it in the microwave. When I opened the door I found my carton of Ben and Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch ice cream sitting there! Not because I had decided to warm up my ice cream was it sitting in there. No apparently 3 hours earlier when I was putting my ice cream away I put it in the microwave INSTEAD OF THE FREEZER!!!!!!!

So has it started?????

Thursday Thanks #7

Thursday Thanks Tank

1. Our "broken" computer - Most of you who know me well know that our computer crashed almost 9 months ago. That hasn't been much of a problem as we were able to use my parents computer whenever we wanted since we were living there with them. Now that we have been officially "moved in", for just one day short of 3 weeks, we are having to rely on our "broken" computer. But I am so thankful that in it's brokenness it still on occasion works well enough that I can check my email, all the blogs I frequent and the girls even have a chance once in awhile to get on http://www.webkinz.com/.
2. Spring Break - Spring Break couldn't have come at a better time for our family. After about 6 months of some very intense remodeling where the girls were often shelled out to one babysitter or another, we have finally been able to truly enjoy some great "family time". We've watched movies together as a family. I have been able to take the girls to do some very fun things. To date (in the past three days) we have ate out at Azteca, Olive Garden, and KFC. We have gotten ice cream from Cold Stone. Watched Alvin and the Chipmunks at the cheap theater in Federal Way. Had sleepovers with Auntie Janeen and Brook and swapped houses with cousins Katie and Maddie. Went putt-putt golfing and ice skating. We have a day of scrapbooking planned for tomorrow with family with a slumber party afterwards to celebrate Sammy's very belated b-day. And a visit to Franks Donuts (the BEST DONUTS IN THE WORLD) for breakfast Saturday morning and then dinner at the Rainforest Cafe' that night. And to cap off our wonderful week (or start off our next week right) we will be going to church together as a family on Sunday. I don't think we could fit more in and I'm so thankful that we have had such a blast. I would love to share pictures as I have been trying to document each momentous occasion but with the "broken computer" I don't dare stick my SD card into that slot. I can imagine in it's "brokenness" it might just decide to wipe the card clean.
3. Texting - To those of you who get texts from me regularly, thank you for letting that be a form of communication between us. I remember when I used to spend hours upon hours of time on the phone when I was younger. Apparently you can actually wear out your "phone abilities" because I no longer have the desire or inclination to spend any amount of time on the phone. But I love being able to quickly send out a text to someone; whether it's to tell them something funny that has just happened, to let them know I'm thinking about them, or to ask them to pick up milk (and a Starbucks) on the way home from work. Texting is my friend and it helps me stay "connected" in my own bizarro way!
4. Husbands that support their wives - I am so thankful for the chance I have to stay home with my girls. That is only possible because my husband believes that it is important for our family. Not only does he go to work Monday - Friday and work long hours away from home so that I can stay home but all that work he does allows me to go do fun things with the girls that he can't do with us. His unselfishness and giving are incredible to me. So thank you, baby, for all you do for your family. YOU AMAZE ME!
5. Chances to pray and then see God's helping hand - Over the past couple of days/weeks, we've had a number of chances to pray for some specific things together as a family (not just immediate but extended as well). I'm so thankful that my girls, especially, have been able to see some immediate responses to our prayers. I'm thankful for the growth that these situations are producing in their faith and in mine!
6. Out of town guests and closer-than-close friends - I am so very thankful for the time we were able to spend with our friends the Owens this past week. We have been blessed a number of times in the past 11 1/2 years to have very close friends that God has placed in our lives. People who we just connect with, mainly through our shared love of the Lord. I'm thankful for a continued friendship with them even though distance separates us. (BTW - Jeff you should really buy JA the EnV phone for Mother's Day. She would love it and I would love it cause then she could quit cheating at her texting! =})

Though this post isn't as "colorful" as my last thanks posts, I'm so excited to be able to post some of the things that have made me so thankful this week. I hope that you are able to look back on each day and see ways that God has richly blessed your life, whether they are "big" or "small". Thanks for taking the time to read what I've written! Blessings to you and yours!